Chapter 6526 A devastating blow

Chapter 6526 A devastating blow

Chen Xi's scalp went numb when he heard this, and he quickly remembered what happened last year.

Chen Xi had also heard of the East African locusts and knew how severe this super locust plague was, but Chen Xi really didn't think that he would encounter such an outrageous thing in the third century. But after watching the video footage handed over by Gan Bao, Chen Xi had a feeling that Central Asia might be in trouble this year.

"When did you find out?" Chen Xi said after taking a deep breath.

"We have information on locust prevention and what environments are suitable for locust development. East Africa under Roman rule is suitable for locust growth. In addition, the climate in East Africa was abnormal last year. First there was a severe drought, and then in December it began to rain wildly, which happened to be the time when locusts there hatched from eggs. The combination of rain and environmental factors will cause the locusts to grow wildly." Gan Bao said helplessly.

"Can this reach our Han Dynasty?" Chen Xi said with a heavy face. This was no joke. If a locust plague broke out in East Africa, it would not be just one wave, but several waves within a year. When the largest wave breaks out in May or June, the scale may be hundreds of billions.

The locust plagues in the Han Dynasty were generally considered super locust plagues if they reached a scale of tens of billions. As for hundreds of billions, that was something that had never been experienced before.

"It's possible. Due to the current environment in Africa, the newly born locusts are very strong. We have already found small-scale locusts flying over from Africa in the Persian Gulf. According to the current reproduction number, we estimate that when the locusts exceed one billion, they will fly across the Red Sea and rush into Central Asia." Gan Bao looked depressed. They had no way to deal with the full-fledged locust plague. The most they could do was to prevent it. The problem was that the locust plague happened in Africa, and they really had no way to deal with it.

Chen Xi's face turned even paler. Normal locusts can fly across the Red Sea in swarms, and then fly all the way, plundering Iran, flying to Pakistan, India, and even entering Xinjiang, China. And this is not the super invincible enhanced version of the African migratory locust. Now with this version, Chen Xi felt a little numb.

"We estimate that the locust plague in Africa this time is very likely to be the largest locust plague in our history. We estimate the scale of the locusts to exceed 50 billion." Shi Tao had a desperate expression on his face. He had seen large-scale locust migrations in his historical materials, but he couldn't even imagine what 50 billion locusts would do to everything.

In particular, the locust plague that broke out in East Africa has basically doomed Egypt, Rome's largest grain-producing area this year, as well as the eastern grain-producing provinces and the lower reaches of the Mesopotamia. The Roman Empire's losses this year may be greater than the total losses in the years of war with Parthia.

With Rome's size, it wouldn't have killed that many people even if it destroyed the Parthian Empire, but a locust plague would really have killed that many people.

Now Gan Bao and Shi Tao said that locusts have been found in East Africa, and even small-scale locusts have been found in Central Asia. The locusts in East Africa should have taken shape and may have even begun the first wave of attack.

If the number of locusts was smaller, Shi Tao still felt that these little creatures would not be able to reach the Han Dynasty, but if the last batch could really reach 50 billion, then it would be basically certain that they would reach the Han Dynasty. For a family that focuses on recording and studying catastrophic climates and managing the agricultural calendar, it would be strange if they did not know the mobility of locusts. They are truly creatures with a nature that defies the will of heaven.

It's better to lose this place than to have the whole world taken a bite out of it.

"Then we must notify Rome now and ask Rome to mobilize its army and do everything possible to start the encirclement and suppression, otherwise it will be too late!" Gan Bao said, staring at Chen Xi.

Shi Tao, who seemed to have a low rank but was actually in the top position, roughly knew the real situation in Rome. So after thinking for a long time, he felt that he could discuss it with Rome. If not, he could just use the Blazing Sky Ring to destroy the entire East Africa.

"Do you think we can really wipe them out?" Chen Xi asked with a sigh. To be honest, it was too late. Even in the later industrial age, when people had all kinds of tools to lure and kill locusts, it was still too late after they realized that the locusts had become a plague in East Africa. Not to mention now in the third century.

Chen Xi was silent for a while. He was also considering whether to let Rome use the Blazing Ring to blow up East Africa. After all, 50 billion locusts was just a conservative idea. To be honest, if the climate and environment in East Africa were suitable, it was possible that hundreds of billions of locusts would explode in the last round. Given the current environment, if hundreds of billions of locusts were to appear, conventional methods would simply not be able to solve the problem.

"Let me ask you, do you think the 50 billion is the largest batch, or the number from the beginning to the end of the locust plague?" Chen Xi asked tentatively.

"Well, what if it's the largest wave with so many?" Chen Xi asked cautiously.

There was no way. The locust plague had already taken shape. Moreover, based on the Gan and Shi families' understanding of Chen Xi, this man was a typical example of someone who was targeting his target. He said that there would be 50 billion locusts in a batch, so the final scale would definitely reach this level. The problem was that Shi Tao had never seen a locust plague formed by 50 billion locusts in his family's internal information. He trembled all over just thinking about it. This was not a joke, this was something that could really sustain a huge empire!

From a certain perspective, the Blazing Sky Ring is indeed a way to solve the problem, but this way of solving the problem is too extreme.

To be honest, from Chen Xi's point of view, it's too late. It's basically equivalent to just waiting to die. This thing is different from other things. You don't know how to solve it.

If 100 million locusts were allowed to eat freely, the food they would consume in one day would be equivalent to that of 40,000 people. 50 billion would be equivalent to 20 million people. This would be a horrible disaster that could bring down even a great empire!
Why did the strongest locust plague in later generations cause 70 million people in Africa to fall into starvation and the grain-producing areas of Pakistan and India were hit? To put it bluntly, it was because the scale of the last wave of locusts reached 400 billion, and the food consumed every day was equivalent to the food for 160 million people. What kind of thing could withstand the crazy rampage of such things for two months?

If these words were spoken by someone else, Gan Bao would have taken action now. Locusts are really too deadly. 50 billion is already the limit of what Gan Bao can imagine, and a maximum batch of 50 billion is something he has never even thought of.

No matter how small the thing is, as long as it rises to the scale of tens of millions or billions, it will not be easy to deal with. Moreover, in Chen Xi's impression, the locusts in East Africa reached as many as 400 billion in one batch at the most, and they spread directly from East Africa to Pakistan, India and other places in one breath.

"Can we use the Blazing Sky Ring to burn it?" Shi Tao suddenly suggested. He was not speaking nonsense, but made the suggestion after careful consideration.

"Of course it's all the locusts!" Shi Tao said firmly.

If we really analyze it from the perspective of ocean currents and climate, the reason for this year's super locust plague is actually that last year the three major empires joined forces to use the Seraphic Ring to bomb South America, causing abnormal climate.

To be honest, there are three normal locust plagues, with the last wave having a scale of 50 billion. If all of them were directed at Rome, at least several million people would have died from famine this year. Even if we are unlucky and encounter a civil war after the locust plague due to famine and the subsequent civil unrest caused by the collapse of social organizations, which made it impossible to effectively deal with the plague that broke out from the corpses, it would not be a surprise that tens of millions of people would have died in Rome.

If Chen Xi continues to use the Blazing Sky Ring to blow up East Africa, he is worried that it will further affect the climate. The locust plague in East Africa will be resolved, and then the climate on the Han side will become more abnormal. If he is unlucky and the northern prairie has a warm winter and spring, it is not impossible for tens of billions of locusts to rush down directly from the north.

After all, the scale of locusts in the Central Plains would not be too outrageous, but billions of locusts rushing down from the northern grasslands did happen. Considering the reality that all the grain-producing areas of the Han Dynasty are in the north, Chen Xi would not be able to withstand such a bombing. He couldn't blow up the northern grasslands at that time.

"Lord Chen, what are you still thinking about?" Shi Tao frowned as he looked at Chen Xi's thoughtful expression.

In Shi Tao's opinion, this is already the best plan. After all, in the current situation, there is actually no better choice. Because if it is delayed any longer, when the locust army is really formed, it will not be so easy to kill it with the Seraphic Ring. Unlike the Lord of All Spirits who is a useless thing that cannot move, the locust army can fly around. It is better to take advantage of the fact that the main force of the locusts is still in East Africa and blow it up directly.

"If I say that this year's abnormal climate is caused by the aftermath of the Blazing Sky Ring, what would you think?" Chen Xi said helplessly. Gan Bao and Shi Tao took a breath of cold air when they heard it. This year is the year without summer. They have determined it before. Because of the climate problem, the global production has decreased by nearly 10%. This is not due to any messy reasons, but simply the light and temperature, which are the real problems that all creatures in the world have to face at the same time.

According to the calculations of the Gan and Shi families, this wave of climate problems is estimated to last for five or six years, but after this year, subsequent problems will not be as serious as this year. Taking next year as an example, the impact of light and temperature problems will be reduced by 50%, and then return to normal levels year by year.

As a result, they heard something now, and it turned out that this thing was caused by this group of people using the Blazing Ring last year.

There was no way. The meeting was rather urgent and the Gan and Shi families didn't have time to participate before it ended. However, they received a notice from the Han Dynasty afterwards. Chen Xi ordered the Gan and Shi families to re-analyze the climate situation in the next three years.

At that time, the Gan and Shi families felt a little strange, but it was normal for them to eat the country's food and do the country's work, so they collected the hydrological data of that year from various places and spent several months to make a new one. The results this time were very different from the previous ones.

The Gan and Shi families were all stunned. They made a special re-comparison and found that the climate had changed drastically. There was no summer the next year and the overall temperature dropped. They quickly issued a forecast of disastrous climate.

After Chen Xi received the report, he quickly issued it, but the Gan family and the Shi family actually did not realize why the climate had changed so much until today. They just thought that there were unpredictable events.

As a result, we now know that the previous drastic climate change was entirely due to the fact that the three empires used the planetary weapon Seraphic Ring when they were fighting the Lord of All Spirits, which affected the climate of the entire world.

It turns out that the Blazing Ring is not a weapon to save the world, but a weapon to destroy the world!

"So don't count on the Blazing Sky Ring. I don't even dare to use it. It's not that we can't blow up East Africa, but we don't dare to do it. When we used it for the first time, no one thought it would be so powerful." Chen Xi said to the two of them with a helpless look on his face.

If I had known that the Blazing Sky Ring was so powerful, I would have used it anyway, but I would not have been so reckless. At least I would have made more preparations before taking action...

Oh, it seems that we can't make too many preparations. The Lord of All Spirits can't be delayed. After the Blazing Sky Ring is hung in the sky, it's time to send the Lord of All Spirits on his way. As for the power, it seems that it will not be small...

Chen Xi thought about it and threw it out of his mind. It seemed that this was the only way. The Lord of All Spirits would die either from the world-destroying flames of the Blazing Sky Ring or from the gravitational distortion weapons of the Han Dynasty.

The former will inevitably lead to climate problems, and the latter will inevitably lead to plate turbulence at the planetary level, thereby causing earthquakes.

Considering the impact, climate issues are relatively easier to solve.

"Then we can only notify Rome and let Rome think of a solution. We may just encounter a super locust plague from Africa, but Rome is sure to encounter a locust plague." Gan Bao thought about it for a while, but there was no good solution.

"In fact, it's not just Rome. Those aristocratic families in Central Asia..." Shi Tao whispered beside him. The locusts have already landed in the Persian Gulf. When the locust plague in East Africa really takes shape, Central Asia will definitely be hit.

"No, there is also Kushan. Believe me, Kushan will also be severely harmed by locusts this year." Chen Xi added on the side.

As Chen Xi knew how outrageous the locust plague in East Africa was, after realizing how large the scale of the thing that had taken shape in East Africa would be, he understood that the Kushan territory in South Asia would definitely be severely dealt with.

To be honest, if it weren't for the Himalayas blocking them, that group of things would definitely be able to rush to the Central Plains. After all, compared to the size of the East Asian locusts, the size of the African desert locusts is at least twice as large, and their combat effectiveness in all aspects is at full value. They are the fighter jets among locusts!

After each of the three people finished speaking, they all sat quietly in their chairs, not knowing what to say. Then the three of them looked at each other. Well, there are only three empires in the world, and all three empires will be hit. It's a global crisis, right?
"The Central Asian Family must not give up, but if there are really tens of billions of locusts, even if they can send out a team, the Central Asian Family will be finished this year. The production has already been reduced due to climate change, and now there is another wave of locusts..." Gan Bao looked at Chen Xi, hoping that Chen Xi could come up with an idea. The Gan and Shi families could not withstand such news!
In the past, the Gansu and Shijiazhuang governments would also release some annual climate anomalies or short-term catastrophic climate forecasts and other climate forecasts that were related to agriculture. They would also report on some field investigations after warm winter droughts and issue locust plague warnings. As for how to deal with them, that depends on the capabilities of each place. Anyway, I have issued the warning, and the rest is none of my business.

With just a few people in our Gan and Shi families, what can we do? Sending you a notice is enough to prove our value.

This is also why before the snowstorm, the Gan and Shi families risked their lives to notify various places, because as long as they were notified in advance, it would have nothing to do with them. They are still the noble Tai Shi Ling, and they have done what they should do. People who froze to death in the snowstorm cannot be blamed on them. Their task is to make arrangements and preventions in advance, and the execution has nothing to do with them.

But now that the locust plague has appeared, they realized that there is no point in keeping you.

The Guo Dynasty fell, but the Gan and Shi families remained. The Spring and Autumn Period changed, and the Warring States Period began. Didn't the Gan and Shi families still do what they were supposed to do? They wrote the Star Classics and the Astronomy Classics. We have supported you for generations, just to let you give us a heads-up when the celestial phenomena change, the climate is abnormal, and the fields can't be farmed, so that people can prepare in advance.

As a result, they only notified us now that the locust plague has occurred. Rnm, return the money, return the offerings I have made for more than a thousand years!
If the previous request for a refund was a joke, this time it is no joke.

After all, even if there were mistakes in the past, the notification was not made until the disaster occurred, so it was not so serious. With the situation this year, if the last wave is really as Chen Xi said, with more than 50 billion desert locusts, then the Central Asian family will be eaten by locusts this year!
This is not the situation in the past where being late or early would only result in a small loss, but a truly life-threatening situation. Looking at the current situation of the major families, if they really want to eat everything, it will be a life-threatening situation.

"Notify the Central Asian families to reserve food and grass in advance. This is the only way. Then start stockpiling food and grass in the direction of Xinzhou." Chen Xi sighed and said. This is how food can be transferred.

Fortunately, since last year, Chen Xi has been drawing grain and fodder from various places to stockpile in the direction of Chang'an and Hanzhong in preparation for the war. Otherwise, if he really had to transfer grain from the five major grain-producing areas to Central Asia as before, the loss alone would be enough to make people despair.

"From the current perspective, this is the most appropriate plan." Shi Tao and Gan Bao looked at each other and said dejectedly. They had never encountered such a situation before. Besides, with the people in their family, it was already difficult to monitor the climate and disasters in their homeland. There were simply not enough people to monitor other parts of the world.

"Notify all the major families and ask them to prepare, then ring the bell for Rome." Chen Xi exhaled and said, "Let Rome do more. I don't believe that Rome doesn't know what the locust plague means to them now."

Even though Rome had the Mediterranean Sea behind it and could eat fish, the destruction of most of its grain-producing land was enough to cause it to go bankrupt.

　I will update 10,000 words first, and I don't have any drafts saved. I will continue to update at noon or in the evening. Please vote quickly. The author really hasn't recovered. It's obvious that his hands are rusty.
　　(End of this chapter)